About Me

I started reading comics regularly after 'Final Crisis: Rage of the Red Lanterns'. Since then, I've become a co-host on 'The LanternCast' (a podcast dedicated to Green Lantern that's been on the air since 2008), started a new podcast covering the late 1980's DC series Action Comics Weekly (appropriately titled The Action Comics Weekly Podcast), and have been the curator of THE blog on the internet dedicated to the character of Ragman, created by Robert Kanigher and Joe Kubert published by DC Comics starting in 1976 and currently appearing on The CW show 'Arrow' as portrayed by actor Joe Dinicol. I'm an avid fan of comics, classic rock, and speaking my mind. Welcome!

Friday, June 1, 2012

The Strange Trial of Alan Scott...

End of hiatus. Why? Is it because I have more theories? Is it because I have a job now and can AFFORD comics? Nope. I mean, all of the above is true but there is something else prompting my comeback to semi-ludicrous theories.

DC comics decided awhile back to cancel a handful of their lower selling titles. So while titles like ‘Blackhawks’, ‘Hawk and Dove’, ‘Men of War’, ‘Mister Terrific’, ‘O.M.A.C.’ and ‘Static Shock’ got the axe, DC served up a few titles to take their place. ‘Batman Incorporated’, ‘Earth 2’, ‘World's Finest’, ‘Dial H’, ‘G.I. Combat’ and ‘The Ravagers’ stepped in to fill the gap signaling to fanboys everywhere that DC is dead set on keeping the fifty two in the ‘New 52’.

With the introduction of ‘Earth 2’, however, DC fans saw the return of the sorely missed J.S.A. Currently only one issue in, ‘Earth 2’ is already stirring up controversy with fans of the DC universe. The popular comic company hinted a few weeks ago that one of their characters releasing soon would be homosexual. Almost immediately fanboys leapt at the chance to theorize who DC’s new addition to their homosexual character ranks would be. Today the official announcement was made. Alan Scott of Earth 2 (an alternate Universe in the DCU) is gay. For those of you keeping track that means Green Lantern (the Golden Age one) is now gay.

Now this announcement, like much having to do with homosexuality these days, came with its fair share of controversy. Some fans are outraged, some think it’s about time and others think “Why change a time honored character? Just make a new one!” Now, since I over explain everything, let me say this: I’m a card carrying heterosexual male but I do not, in any way, believe that homosexuals should be treated differently nor given less rights. I fully support equal rights for all, not on the basis that we’re all American, but that we’re all HUMAN.

That being said, this announcement regarding the Golden Age Green Lantern irks me in only one regard. Change for the sake of change has never really been the herald of popular decision making. In fact a quote I just found by Edward Abbey says, “Growth for the sake of growth is the philosophy of a cancer cell”. Now I know that is extreme, but hear me out. In the 1970’s, when leftover race relation strained our country, Denny O’Neil and Neal Adams introduced a black character in their ‘Green Lantern/Green Arrow’ storyline. John Stewart went on to become so popular that he appeared as a main character in the acclaimed ‘Justice League’/ ‘Justice League Unlimited’ cartoon series. They didn’t suddenly change Hal Jordan and say, “Well, now he’s black now.” They said, “Check out this new character. Isn’t he awesome? I know right! So who cares about his race?” Now there will be those people who say, “Wait Chad. Homosexuality and the color of someone’s skin are not the same.” Isn’t it? I believe that neither is wrong nor is a factor that allows someone to be robbed of rights. I also believe that homosexuality can be just as much of a natural occurrence as someone’s skin color. So where’s the difference?

Now, will I swallow all of this natural uncertainty I get when I encounter change for the sake of change? Of course. Why? Because, I have no problem with ANY character being gay, let alone Green Lantern. I suspend my doubts because DC has done many progressive things for the homosexual community, most notably Batwoman and Kyle Rayners assistant and friend Terry Berg. There was an entire storyline, within ‘Green Lantern’ no less, that featured Terrance Berg getting beaten by a handful of individuals simply because he was gay. So homosexuality has been confronted and covered extensively in DC comics both then and now.

This leads me to my final point. Don’t fuck this up DC. If you ARE going to force feed us the idea that Alan Scott is gay, then play it cool. Don’t show Green Lantern kicking ass and taking names and then flash back every other page to a hey-don’t-forget-that-he’s-gay type of scene. I don’t need it every five seconds. Do you remind me every other panel that Clark Kent/Superman and Lois Lane are a couple? Nope. So why remind me that Alan Scott and Samuel are a couple just as frequently? As far as I’m concerned, if someone is a homosexual, it is a very SMALL part of who they are as a person. So treat it that way. “No big deal, let’s carry on.”

So there you have it, my long winded return to this blog. Are there any theories to speak of in there? Not really. Unless you throw in there that I believe Samuel will die VERY soon. This has nothing to do with the fact that he’s gay; this is just how DC does things. If you’re going to tell the origin of a superhero in the DCU, it’s commonplace to kill any love interests the protagonist has in their life before they become a hero or at least shortly thereafter. So, mark my words, Samuel will die by issue 10 of ‘Earth 2’ at the latest.

That's it Corps Conjecture fans! Be on the lookout for issue #3 of 'Earth 2' featuring the all new origin of Alan Scott, due out in July!

1 comment:

I'd like to point out a more recent example in the New 52 of a gay character handled well: Miguel Jose Barragan aka Bunker from the Teen Titans. While he is very flamboyantly Mexican this actually fits with the fact that he is a teen and at that stage in life, once someone has accepted their own sexuality, they tend to play it up in order to sick out more.

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